A Little Hope
by sandstar08
Summary: Severus comes back from a long night to find a student in his bed. HGSS. AU. Nominated for 2008 New Library Award!
1. A Little Hope

Severus Snape was pissed off.

He had spent all night listening to the drunken ramblings of one very pissed and very annoying Lucius Malfoy as the blond had lamented how his wife didn't love him, had never loved him, and for Merlin's sake, Severus, would probably never love him after he had forgotten their 19th anniversary. All in all, it had been a rather tedious affair that had not resulted in the detraction of any information of any consequence aside from the fact that Lucius and Narcissa's sex life was actually rather tame for two attractive Death Eaters such as themselves. Therefore, not only had Severus been bored out of his mind, he had missed a full night when he could have been up reading all those Potions articles he had been looking forward to the entire week.

What he would give for a good night's rest. Severus sighed. Or at least a good shag now and then. It annoyed him even more that the drunken Lucius had forgotten that while HE had a lovely wife who only got mad at him for the make-up sex, Severus had no one. Even the bloody prostitutes around Knockturn were afraid to sleep with a man when they did not know which side he was on.

He muttered an angry Lumos as he stalked his way to his bed. He had taken off his outer robes and unbuttoned his cufflinks when he stopped and stared at his bed in shock. Well, not the bed itself exactly, but rather the person on it.

The person was decisively female. She was sleeping on her right side, with the blankets pulled up and tucked under her arm. Her brown ringlets fanned out from her head like an earth-toned crown that covered the pillow. She had a small smile upon her lips that revealed a barely visible dimple. Her perfectly shaped eyelashes lay deliciously on her rose-tinged cheeks. He wanted to open her eyes gently to see what color they were; he was partial to brown. A pair of deep russet eyes that would entrance him, maybe even with tiny golden flecks. He wondered who she was; if she was a student, as he suspected, how in the world had she gotten past his wards?

In his most intense perusal of the rather unexpected but very welcome figure in his most private room, Severus neglected to notice the object of his attention was stirring. However, when she started to make small moaning noises and shift, he stood shocked as he looked at her once again.

What the bloody hell was Hermione Granger doing in his bed?

He watched, fascinated, as the girl twisted and turned as she stretched out, arms reaching up over her head. When her small hands, covered with ink stains Severus noted, reached out for a nonexistent headboard, she froze. Severus smirked and prepared Dunderhead Glare #7 (patent pending).

Severus noticed that she tensed and her eyes opened very slowly, as if she were afraid to acknowledge her change in sleeping quarters. When her eyes were entirely open, she immediately began to look around until her gaze fell upon him. Severus was baffled at her reaction: why in the world would she smile when she saw the greasy bat of the dungeons looming over her first thing in the morning?

He had been hoping she would at least scream a little.

Instead, she just lay there on his bed, smiled, and then had the audacity to softly murmur, "Good morning."

Severus crossed his arms, unaware that it brought out all the muscles he hid inside of voluminous robes. He cocked an eyebrow when the girl, either unknowingly or dangerously, moistened her lips. He winced internally; perhaps "cocked" was not the best word to use in his internal monologue right now. Either way, the girl had muttered a polite civility.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," he began with a mischievous spark in his eyes. "May I ask why you are in a presumable state of undress in my bed?"

"Professor Dumbledore, sir."

"Professor Dumbledore, Miss Granger? Albus Dumbledore undressed you and put you to sleep in my bed?"

Severus hid his smirk when the young woman flushed and began to stutter.

"No, no sir. You see, you went somewhere but Professor Dumbledore had an important message for you and I was told to tell you the message and Professor Dumbledore made it seem very important and I thought I ought to give it to you as soon as possible so I-"

"Well, Miss Granger?" Severus's eyebrow lifted imperiously. "What is this message?"

"Sir?" Her head tilted; she was confused.

Apparently, the chit- even if she was a pretty chit- did not fully function until a few minutes after she woke up.

"I asked," Severus snarled menacingly, "you what the message is."

She looked slightly taken aback and her eyes fled his gaze, perching on the various personal belongings in his room. She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "I forgot."

"Do you mean to tell me that this message was important enough for you to invade my personal quarters and sleep on my bed, yet you have forgotten it?" Forget how pretty she was, the chit was a bloody nuisance! "Get out!" Severus bellowed at the now wide-eyed girl on his bed, "Now!"

"But I haven't told you the message!"

"I don't care, Miss Granger! Just get out of my rooms!"

"But it was an important message and if you would just stop yelling at me, I might remember it!" She glared at him and Severus was so shocked that he ignored the fact that she should have been evicted already.

"Now then," she muttered, half to herself, "what was that message?"

Severus was not a patient man, but he was rather curious. So he bottled up his anger and slowly counted to 50 in his head.

In Latin.

Backwards.

"Well?" He finally asked again, "Do you remember?" What was wrong with the chit? That was the second time she had smiled at him this morning.

"Yes I did, sir." She happily announced, swinging her legs off the bed and standing up. She walked right up to him and looked him straight in eye. Severus was impressed, not that he would have told her. "The message that Professor Dumbledore wanted me to tell you was this."

Severus merely cocked –bad word, bad word- his left eyebrow again in a silent question.

"Happy Birthday, Severus!" The girl kissed him on the cheek and winked at him. He was about to whip out his wand –the wooden one- and hex the little tramp when she waved her fingers at him and faded from sight. She had been an illusion.

"Albus!" he roared as he entered the headmaster's office.

"Hello, Severus," the old grey-bearded wizard chirped, already sucking on his third lemon drop of the day. "Happy Birthday, my boy."

"What the hell was she?" he demanded, wanting to know why the old fool had sent him a phantom of the Gryffindor Head Girl.

"Ah, it was a she," Dumbledore commented, apparently amused, "some people had been wondering if you played for the other team..."

"Tell me what it was, Albus!"

"Lemon drop, my boy?" Dumbledore's sapphire eyes twinkled in the most aggravating manner.

"No! I demand to know what that was in my bed this morning!"

"In your bed?" Dumbledore gave one last twinkle before admitting, "A vision I sent for your birthday."

"But why her?"

"Who?"

"Granger! In my bed! At seven in the bloody morning!"

"Granger?" Severus was only slightly satisfied to see Dumbledore shocked out of his twinkle.

"Yes. Granger. Hermione bloody Gryffindor Granger! Why was she there?"

Albus Dumbledore seemed very preoccupied with his desk. "I sent you a vision spell. Photus Deseo."

"Photus Deseo? What does 'picture of my desire' have anything to do with Granger? She's not my desire, she's a bloody nuisance!"

"Ah, my boy, that is where you are wrong. In your haste to avoid foolish wand-waving, you missed the most important part of the spell." Dumbledore fiddled with a silver toy on his desk, "Photo Deseo does not reveal the desire of the person it afflicts, Severus."

"Then, pray tell, what does it show, Albus? The person who desires me?" Severus snarled menacingly.

Dumbledore's eyes met Severus's, and silence prevailed.

"It shows the best match for you out of all those who desire you, Severus. However, I did not know-"

"Bloody hell," muttered Severus, dropping his eyes to floor, "If you'll excuse me, Headmaster." He fled the office without another look at his employer, almost running down the circular stairs in his haste.

He was lost in his own thoughts when he bumped into the real Granger who was walking to the Arithmancy classroom for first period. Her books littered the hallway and Severus watched as she shrieked and grabbed at the papers randomly.

"Honestly!" She scolded, still unaware of whom she had bumped into. "It's not as if this corridor is that small. Watch where you are going next time! Fifteen points from…" she trailed off as she met his amused eyes.

"Slytherin, Miss Granger. I would be considered part of Slytherin," his voice was calm and low.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," the pale girl muttered as she picked up her pile of books.

"I believe you missed one, Miss Granger," He swept by her, kneeling to pick up one last overlooked tome. He glanced at the cover and was surprised to find his own name peering back at him in silver etching.

"My book, Miss Granger? And pray tell why you are in the possession of a book made for advanced Potions apprentices."

"I- I'm interested in a Potions apprenticeship," the young woman blurted out, looking partially horrified that she had spoken.

"Indeed?" Severus glanced at the spines of the books in her hands, "That seems to be a good start you have there, Miss Granger," he gently placed the leather-bound book in his hand at the top of her pile. He took out his wand, "You'll find that the Libros Guardam spell is rather efficient at storing references, Miss Granger, with the bonus of avoiding the effort involved in carrying multiple books."

He watched as she smiled hesitantly and mastered the spell on her first try.

"Thank you for the spell, Professor Snape. I am sorry about those points. I will replace them right away, sir. Fifteen points-"

"That will not be necessary, Miss Granger. I believe I was the one on the wrong side of the corridor, making it my fault," He took out a roll of parchment and an Ever-lasting Quill from his inner robe pockets and wrote a few words, "Here is a pass, allowing you to skip your last period. Transfiguration, is it not?" He continued when she nodded, still in shock at his apology, "I will speak to Professor McGonagall and you will spend the period researching in the Restricted Section. I expect you at one hour after classes end for your apprenticeship interview."

She whispered in awe, "Interview? A Potions apprenticeship? With you, sir?"

"Well I certainly don't have a Mastery in Charms or Divination, Miss Granger. If that is all…" he trailed off.

"O thank you, sir!" She smiled at him, as her vision had done this morning, and leaned forward suddenly to kiss his right cheek, "Thank you so much, sir! I'll never forget this!" she exclaimed, running off to her first period.

Severus stood there in the corridor for a few seconds, his fingertips on the spot where her lips had been, inhaling the lingering smell of jasmine and sandalwood mixed in the air. He smiled to himself.

Desire indeed.

The woman wouldn't know what hit her.


	2. The Interview

"So," Professor Severus Snape began as he placed the small file aside, "you want to explore a potential biological origin to magic." He stared at the young woman in front of him who sat clutching the strap of her book bag.

"Yes, sir." Hermione agreed earnestly, "All magical creatures have one thing in common: body matter. Well, except for Dementors and ghosts but both of those are made of-"

"Cytoplasmic vibrations. Yes, I know. There was an article in Potions Procured last month that talked about it. You should take a look before you jump to body matter."

"But your article didn't mention anything about cytoplasmic vibrations, sir. Your paper talked about variations to the Wolfsbane administration."

Severus raised an eyebrow. Apparently the chit read more voraciously that he had predicted.

"Really?"

"Well sir, while I think your idea is a wonderful theory, it fails when you take into account the crystallization properties of the full dozen aconite leaves. And the comments about injection sound like-" Hermione stopped.

Severus shifted in his chair. Apparently the chit was actually a genius as well. Damn.

"like a Pureblood hypothesizing? I basically am, Miss Granger. I may be a half-blood, but I was never fully exposed to the Muggle lifestyle as a child. I'm afraid I have no intensive knowledge about such treatments."

"But considering the high temperatures that Wolfsbane is put through, using a gold needle is just irresponsible, Severus!"

A silence fell. Severus counted to 50 again, but neither in Latin nor backwards this time; he was having too much fun watching the horrified shock pass through Miss Granger's system.

"Actually, Hermione," Severus watched with half-lidded eyes as the woman in front of him straightened imperceptibly.

"Yes, Severus?" His name came out husky and low.

Obsidian eyes met garnet. Forcefully clashing stones struck hard- damn it. He really needed to learn more words that couldn't easily be turned into sexual innuendos. Severus shifted again, which somehow resulted in him moving forward towards Hermione. She wasn't taking this sudden tension any better, he was gratified to see. Or at least that's the sign the deep breaths and her heaving bosom seemed to indicate. Fuck. She had noticed him staring at the edge where her blouse split and the barest hint of a curve showed. Severus wondered idly whether if it would better to simply fuck her than try to finish this interview. He cleared his throat importantly – conveniently ignoring that he had told Albus that Fudge sounded like a chicken when the Minister did it.

"How much do you want this job?"

"More than I want any single thing in the world but one, Severus. My resume is the first page in the file; my research and recommendation letters underneath." Severus's mind dallied briefly towards the image of Hermione underneath him when Hermione stood up, suddenly much more confident than the typical apprenticeship applicant should be. Severus pulled his chair closer to his desk as he began to ask another question, but he was interrupted.

"No, I haven't taken any type of confidence or intelligence stimulant; yes, I'm serious; no, I'm not an idiot nor a little girl; and yes, I completely understands the risks and," the chit had the nerve to stare directly There, "the benefits of such a partnership."

Hermione picked up her bag and her copy of Severus's book. "If that's all, Severus?"

"That weren't – wasn't – what I was going to say."

"Really?"

How in Merlin's underpants had she managed to perfect that single arched eyebrow move in two minutes? It had taken him three weeks! Severus had the sinking feeling that he wasn't in complete control of the situation anymore.

"I was going to ask you what that one thing you want more in the world is, Hermione."

Severus was very sure something was Very Wrong when she began to smile.

"You." And she was gone.

Severus didn't know what had hit him.

A/N: A special thank you to Dolphindreams for the idea about writing her interview. And wordwitch, I hope you liked the reference to your favorite part of the last chapter.

I honestly hadn't planned a sequel to "A Little Hope" but when as I replied to the reviews, it seemed most of you wanted one. And my inner muse decided to be nice to me and came up with this. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Review!


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